Ok, I meant to post this before but life got busy (hmm, seemed to coincide with not being on vacation). I loved this book (my review is here), but I'm a soft cover girl, not a hardcover girl so I've already bought another copy. If you want this very nice clean copy of The Outback Stars by Sandra McDonald, drop me an email at janicu AT gmail DOT com. You have till Saturday, January 17th, midnight EST. I'll announce who got it the next day and send them an email.
I've been wanting to read Netherwood ever since Tez pointed it out as a Shomi release that may have been overlooked by people. It does seem like this one got less press than other ones and it's release came and went in March 08 without me noticing. The blurb sounded interesting – a futuristic story about a Sheriff after a criminal she knew in virtual realities "bad part of town" – the Netherwood while she was Amazonia and he was Avenger, competitors and lovers. Sheriff + wood makes me think Robin Hood so I was hoping that we'd see some kind of space age retelling perhaps, but this book doesn't exactly go there.
The book started off very promising with Talia Fortune, heir to FortuneCorp and new Sheriff reviewing holographic recordings of her time in Netherwood, specifically her last meeting with Avenger. She knows he's a criminal (as are all people in Netherwood), and she's tracked him to Fresh Havens where her Uncle Stone is mayor. When she arrives on the planet she discovers grave sabotage on Fresh Havens and two missing technicians. Talia *knows* the senior technician is Avenger and sets off into the Gray Forest to catch him.
Overall: I really liked the premise but the execution did not work. There were too many ideas going on which weren't very well thought out. Everything sort of sounded cool and interesting but were so vague that my suspension of disbelief wouldn't stay suspended. We have:
If some of those ideas were taken out and saved for another book, and if more time spent on making the plot strong, I would have liked this book more. With all of the above going on, I kept seeing plot holes, inconsistencies, and incomplete explanations which weakened the whole story.
On top of that - while the hero and heroine were interesting, they began to annoy me. Kovner's zen know-it-all attitude and smiles in spite of bad news was annoying. Talia going from a gung-ho, confident young thing, to realizing she doesn't know it all, to martyr annoyed me. I believe she got very dramatic towards the end about three times about being a threat to the group! Enough already woman, we got it! And the romance itself wasn't interesting. Maybe most of it happened off-screen before they met – there was a back story to the two of them. Although Talia wants to capture Kovner, he wants to save her because of their back story, but I got no hints about what that was. I don't see why they like each other other than they are the two main characters.
Lastly – the ending – it sort of petered off and didn't really satisfy me. I can't say much more than that.
What that didn't make this book a complete failure for me was that the writing itself was okay. Despite a couple of typos (FourtuneCorp, fingr), it flowed well (it was a first person past tense point of view in case people wanted to know). There were some interesting ideas in there, I just wish there was less. So in the end this became an average to below average read to me rather than a good read. I would not completely close the door on reading something else from this author because I think there's potential, but I'd prefer a tighter plot next time.
Other reviews:
Other links:
I got a couple of interesting book related emails today.
1) Abebooks most expensive sales of 2008
Topping the list is an art book called Etudes à l'Eau-Forte with 25 plates by artist Seymour Hayden, which went for $17,216. Number 3 was a first edition of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban which was signed by the cover artist, which fetched $12,874. Other interesting sales:
Click the link above to see more, I'm just giving you the ones I thought were interesting but there are several categories that Abebooks displays on that webpage. Moral of the story: it may pay to be a reader and to hold on to the first edition copies of books you love.
2) From bookcloseouts I got an email about their dollar for dollar sale. Don't hate me when you spend all your money.
"How it works: When you add books to your shopping cart, you may spend that same dollar amount on these 5000+ selected titles for FREE* For example: Buy $10 worth of books, put them in your shopping cart, and then go back to here and spend your $10 credit.
Please note (*) the following:
Rachel Cohen is a new to me author but I've read David Levithan's Boy Meets Boy and The Realm of Possibility and enjoyed them. I've been hearing buzzing over this book for a while now, but it went on my "I really want to read this" list when I read the review on Dear Author.
This is one of my favorite reads of last year.
Obviously from the title, this book is about two people – Nick and Norah. Nick is a bass player for a queercore (whatever that is) band and was dumped three weeks ago by his girlfriend Tris. He's still reeling over this blow when he meets Norah at one of his band's gigs, around the same time he glimpses Tris coming towards him with her new boyfriend. Desperate to save face he turns to Norah and asks her to be his girlfriend for 5 minutes. Norah is a smart talking daughter of a music executive who just happens to know Tris, and although Nick doesn't know it, she knows what Tris has done to him. What flows from that meeting is a fantastic night in New York City as two kids from New Jersey go on what ends up being an all night date. The book is narrated in first person past tense and switches between Nick and Norah's viewpoints, so we ride the ups and downs that happen during this night as they get to know each other.
Overall: This is one of those books with a young adult label that is an instant classic to me because it's written in such a way that a teen today could read this again in 20 years and still like the book. Even though the book is full of cursing from both characters and many music references, it doesn't exclude the reader or try too hard. Everything seems natural. It does deal with some sexual situations and of course colorful swearing which may alarm some parents but it also has straight-edge (no alcohol or drugs) protagonists, friends behaving responsibly, and refreshing writing. If you're still on the fence – go read this excerpt and you'll be able to decide pretty quickly if this is the book for you.
I wanted to read the book before the movie came out but in the end I saw the movie first. This is one of those times where I liked both the book and the movie, but the two are really different. There are some major plot differences in the two, and while the movie had more humor, the characters in the book were more like real people I could believe in. Rent the movie, buy the book! In the movie, Caroline, who seems to have a real drinking problem, is reduced to a humor device, and Tris, who was multifaceted in the book, became a stereotypical and manipulative barbie doll.
While I enjoyed the colorful side characters that orbited the main two, what I liked most were the characters of Nick and Norah. Norah was especially endearing. Of the two, Norah is at first the tough no-nonsense one to me, responsible and looking out for her drunk friend, but I realized that she's also scared because the only other relationship she had was with Tal, a boy who did a number on her self-esteem. She's a jewish girl who is spiritual in a cool way, and Nick's response to her feelings about her faith is thoughful, not condescending or patronizing. That conversation about her beliefs is an example of the give and take between the two characters that flowed perfectly once they let it. I could believe that these were the types of conversations you had with someone you had an instant connection with – random topics that provide insight into the other and last for hours and hours. Nick seems like the perfect foil to Norah. He's the even keeled one who complements Norah's volatility. When she freaks and runs, he doesn't understand, but he doesn't give up on her either. He's someone who turns out to be more persistent and dependable than she'd imagined. From the one night here, I could see that these two braving life together.
OK, so I was a bit weirded out that there is a Twilight perfume out there. I think I spied it on some Borders or B&N email. I was even more surprised when I googled it and at Hot Topic it's $48 dollars (isn't the intended audience mainly teens – that's not cheap)..One per customer? And the apple says "The Forbidden Fruit Tastes The Sweetest"? Gag, so cheesy. I went googling while chatting with a friend online about it:
janicu: duddeee
48.00??!?!?!?!
friend: apparently soem ppl are saying it's only 25 at borders? no idea
janicu: good lords
friend: oh wow, some one on etsy made scents for edward bella jacob and alice
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6388665
Edward: honey, lilac, and sun; with a little shimmer
Bella: freesia and lavendar
Jacob: earth woods scents like cinnamon
Alice: citrus orchid; with a little shimmer
haha with a little shimmer, of course
wtf is sun supposed to smell like
These two kids on etsy must be making lots of money because they've had 1,422 sales as of this posting.
I saw that HotTopic – has a whole twilight section with t-shirts (I ❤ boys with sparkle) and Twilight Edward Body Shimmer and Alice's choker even. Egads.. the marketing for this book seems overboard.
Oh look Borders also has a Twilight Shop. It does look like the perfume there is a different one from Hot Topic, with a different bottle shape and is $24.99.
I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. But then I remembered Harry Potter and the marketing involved with all of that so I guess I shouldn't feel as surprised as I do. I suppose it's because I've never been fanatic about something like it seems that people are about Twilight. It's like being in an entirely different culture I just don't understand.
And then today I saw this on perez hilton's website via reviewer x:
"We smell a lawsuit coming!
Naughty, naughty, naughty!
The makers of the new Twilight fragrance have done something VERY bad.
They've ripped off the bottle for the "Nina" by Nina Ricci fragrance.
With all the money they are making on the film you'd think they could afford designing their own bottle!
The Twilight bottle has completely ripped off Nina Ricci's bottle design, right down to the leaves on the lid. The only difference is the script on the bottle and the box that it comes in."
Life is .. interesting, that's for sure.
That contest I mentioned earlier has started over at Dear Author. I got a nice note from a reader reminding me about it this morning (thank you Darby)! The contest ends on the 11th and requires some research over at the Sony site to answer 16 questions about the eReader. I've entered and I'd dearly love to win – I've learned quite a bit about the eReader just from this contest and the more I learn, the more I like it. The newest generation looks particularly nice, its backlit and has a touch sensitive screen.. *drools*. Now just add wireless capability and I'm thinking best thing since sliced bread. Take me now sweet eReader, my husband doesn't need to know.
Head over to Dear Author to enter.
Good luck!
I’ve been keeping this book in mind ever since I was recommended it by calico_reaction based on my love of space opera romances. I think she made the comment on one of my Linnea Sinclair reviews that I should read this book. Finally I broke down and got it, but only the hardcover copy was available when I did. Now, I love the book, but I want it in soft-cover, so I’m going to buy it *again* in paperback, and I want to give away the copy I read to someone who will enjoy it. I’m the type of person who uses bookmarks and gentle handles the book while reading, so the book is practically new, comes with the dust jacket, and it’s a really great read. If you don’t care that this book isn’t completely new, I’ll be hosting that giveaway in a few days.
First of all – isn’t this a great cover? It’s pretty cool and unearthly – conveys outer space, a female main character, and the colors are fantastic. I believe the second book in the series (The Stars Down Under) has a similar look.
Lieutenant Jodenny Scott is an officer whose last ship, the Yangtze suffered massive fatalities when it blew apart. Scott was one of the few survivors, a hero who helped save many crewmembers on that ship. At the start of this novel, Jodenny is bored from being forced to spend months planetside recovering from the disaster, so she pulls some strings to board the Aral Sea as it’s newest crewmember. Unfortunately she is put in charge of Underway Stores, the most troubled department in the ship – rumored to be full of incompetents, criminals and misfits. Past supply officers in charge of Underway Stores are either missing or had mysterious accidents, and Jodenny has to confront suspicious activities going on with her division and elsewhere in the ship. All of this is set against a backdrop of a military with Australian origins, and odd mystical things that seem rooted in Australian folklore also happen.
Overall: I think if you are a fan of Elizabeth Moon you will like Sandra McDonald’s books, particularly because of the military aspects. If you like Linnea Sinclair and Ann Aguirre you may like this as well. The author was an officer in the U.S. Navy and her knowledge of the day to day workings of he military seems to really show in this novel. In The Outback Stars Jodenny has to deal with a mix of personalities both below and above her in the chain of command. Not everyone is a hard worker and trying to get the bad seeds working in harmony with everyone else is a challenge. However, it was refreshing to see Jodenny tackle the challenge with creativity and toughness, which didn’t always help her make friends, but did make me respect her. She’s a very competent character who knows her job and is good at it. I also liked seeing how she reserved judgement on people until she saw things for herself – particularly with Terry, an accused rapist. It was also interesting to read a book where the main culture was Australian, not American (even though the writer is American!), but there was a also a big mix of races and religions and ethnicities on the ship too. The romance itself was satisfying to read – it wasn’t the main focus, and is slow-building. The tension comes from the fact that Jodenny is interested in a subordinate, which is a no-no within the milirary, so she spends most of the book supressing her feelings. I sighed a happy sigh at the end of this book. Although it seems like it will continue in The Stars Down Under, this book ended in a good place, without cliffhangers. I didn’t feel like major strings were left undone, but there is enough undiscovered territory to keep me wanting to read book 2.
Links:
Reviews:
Quick post before bed. I saw a couple of nice giveaways I wanted to highlight.
1) Ann Aguirre, who wrote Grimspace and Wanderlust, both of which I liked immensely, has just posted about a book that blew her away. This is The Eye of Night by Pauline J. Alama. I just love getting recommended a book and hearing how much the person liked it the way Ann seems to. She posted about this book at 3 am right after reading it!! Anyway, this one is an epic fantasy with romantic elements so head over there if that is a genre you like. Ann Aguirre is giving away 10 copies of it so she can have people to discuss this book with!! I'm going to look for this one the next time I'm in a bookstore.
2) calico_reaction over on livejournal, who is one of my favorite reviewers, is having her annual top 10 giveaway. I won this last year and got a copy of Justina Robson's Keeping It Real which I completely loved. Head over there to enter and pick out one book you'd like to read from her top ten list for 2008.
This is the fourth book of the young adult series about a town run by vampires and the humans who live there. Claire Danvers is a science genius who, along with her friends, finds herself an unwilling participant in an ongoing game between Morganville's founder, the vampire Amelie and Amelie's enemies.
If you have read any of the books in this series, you know that Rachel Caine is fond of throwing cliffhangers into the story. The last book was no different with the unexpected arrival of new vampires to the town of Morganville, lead by Bishop, an ancient, evil vampire who also happens to be Amelie's father. This book spends a lot of time describing what this new twist means to the town, while Claire contines on with her day to day activities like school and working for Amelie on a secret project. Claire's housemates – her boyfriend Shane, goth barrista Eve, and vampire musician Michael all start to feel strain on their relationships caused by the arrival of Bishop and his entourage. One of the biggest strains is the costume ball that is being held to honor Bishop, where every vampire has invited a human date.
Overall: I really feel like Caine does a good job in keeping the scenery changing and the story moving along, but while there are a lot of small scenes between Claire and other characters that occur throughout Claire's day, when I think about the book as a whole I would say only one major thing really happened, and most of the book was a slow set up to that event. In the end I didn't feel very satisfied, and felt like nothing was really resolved, so this book ended up feeling like a filler book within the series, and was there to set the scene for a more significant installment. I found myself putting the book down a lot and checking to see how many pages were left despite the deft scene changes to keep interest.
Claire keeps in character with her sometimes innocent trust of the vampires, but conversely still manages to be one of the smarter characters when it comes to realizing if shes in danger and acting quickly. She seems like the typical teen in her wanting more freedoms from her parents (more apparent in this book where her parents get thrown into the mix) – I could relate to her frustration with dealing with her parents who may not know the whole story, especially with Morganville. The most fascinating parts of this book for me where the scenes with the mercurial vampire Myrnin, and seeing some more facets to other characters (like Oliver, Amelie, and cop Richard Morrell), but I found Eve, Michael and Shane a bit dull in this book. Throughout this series I've found Claire's housemate's responsibility and her boyfriend's willpower in resisting doing anything beyond kissing a bit unbelievable, but I guess this book paints good rolemodels for teen readers there. I think I'll keep reading to see what happens next.
My reviews for:
Book 2 – The Dead Girls Dance (vox / livejournal)
Book 3 – Midnight Alley (vox / livejournal)
A lot of people are posting a year end post for 2008. It's nice to see people looking back at the books they read for the year and picking out their favorite reads, and it's interesting to see what they picked. I thought it would be a good thing to try myself because with it recorded, I can look back in later years and see what my tastes were like.
Out of a total of 77 books read this year, very few got into my best list, but book ratings are highly subjective. I just went with my gut and rated them according to how I felt about the book as soon as I finished reading them. These lists are compiled from ratings I put down in my private notes.
All the links to my reviews here are to my Livejournal.
The Books that Blew Me Away – These books are those I gave top marks to when I first read them. It's a very hard list to get onto because I have to feel like I'm falling in love and cannot be parted from the book for it to get on this list. Only three got on it this year.
Books that Came Close to Blowing Me Away – These came very close to getting top marks from me. This is a personal thing, but the books above I would put down and then obssessively think about when I could pick them up again. The books below, I didn't feel as consumed by the book, but still felt really impressed by them.
Books I Really Liked/ Keepers. These each had several moments where I loved the book and overall I think these are books that deserve to be loved and read by others, but for some reason or other these didn't get into the top 7. I still consider these keepers, and all these authors are pretty much autobuys/ must read backlist authors. There are 19 of these books this year (Linnea Sinclair's name comes up a lot here, I was reading her backlist in 2008):
And for my New Year's Resolution – it's the same resolution as last year , to read 100 books.
specficromantic 
